Nate Berkus said this the other day and I could NOT agree more. I've been telling Scott for months now that I want an assistant...haha! I also saw on the same show that they made a list of all the things a Mom does in a day. (By the way, isn't DVR the best invention EVER...if it were not for DVR I would never see a single episode of anything) Anyways, I've never really thought about it that way, I just do it...but then I started thinking, and decided to make my own list of what goes on around here in a day. So, let's take last Thur. for example. Just a run of the mill day in the Utley house and even one of the less busy days because I don't work on Thursdays. I won't even attempt to make a list of our Tuesdays because that is just INSANITY...school, dance, my longest work evening, etc. Anyways, back to Thur. (and, this post is mostly for myself...it's long and boring, but I know one day I will want to look back on what my days used to consist of! And, I know I will miss them, because even on my craziest/hardest days, I LOVE it! :)
-Day begins at a little after 6am when my live in alarm clock wakes up (we will call said alarm clock Abby-ha, and for the record, she has been in school for almost a year and I have only had to wake her THREE times).
-Live in alarm clock manages to play quietly while I get ready until about 6:30am when the temptation is just too much and with one loud thud and squeal, human wrecking ball aka: Liv, is woken up!
-Time for the morning routine...change clothes, make breakfast, say 20 times nicely, 'eat your breakfast, please.' Say, 20 times in a firm voice, 'eat your breakfast, Abby...sit down, Olivia...do NOT throw that on the floor, Olivia...get off of the table, Olivia!' Say once in an I mean business voice, 'alright, Abby...if you don't eat, you go to school hjungry...you can't go to school and learn on an empty stomach!'...'alright, Liv...that's it, breakfast is over for you!' And, by that time, I have a messy floor and at least one milk spill to clean up.
-Corral the girls to the bathroom, and corraling my children anywhere is like herding cats...IMPOSSIBLE! Get the girls to the bathroom, referee a fight over who gets which stool to stand on, make Abby go potty, brush two sets of teeth, fix hair on 2 gorgeous little heads.
-Gather school items and get the girls to the car, get everyone strapped in and listen to everyone whine all the way to school because the sun is in their eyes, fish around the backseat for sun glasses and finally the car is happy the last 5min. of the trip (it's a 10 min. trip-ha!)
-Drag everyone from the car to take Abby in for school drop-off.
-Back out 5min. later and time to figure out what's at the top of the to-do list for the day. Off to the bank, village hall, Target and the grocery.
-Liv and I rush around and manage to make it to all 4 stops in record time and back to pick up Abby @ 11am.
-11am, both girls are tired, hungry and grumpy. I remember that we had a movie on reserve at the movie store, so we have to stop and get that on the way home.
-Home and now time for lunch. Make lunch (see above breakfast ritual and that's quite similar to the lunch ritual. ha!) During lunch I clean the kitchen, kitchen floors and unload/load the dishwasher. Easy task that always has to be done and I am still in the room with the girls, even though I usually don't get a chance to eat until Liv is down for a nap.
-After lunch, there is about 30min until Liv goes down for a nap. We usually read or play a game during this time. Or, depending on how lunch went...clean the floors and kitchen again! ha!
-12:30: nap time for Liv. She won't nap if she thinks she is missing anything fun going on, so Abby will pretend to go to her room and nap, too. Both girls are either messy or have stripped, so before nap/rest both girls get changed into outfits #2 for the day. Change, potty, hugs/kisses, down for a nap.
-Sometimes Abby will forget that she is pretending and she will stay in her room and play quietly for a while. This is when I grab lunch for myself, check emails, return phone calls/email for work, etc. After making Abby at least rest for a while, we usually do a craft or play until we hear Liv stirring. Craft usually results in outfit #3 for Abby. Sometimes Liv naps 2hrs., sometimes 30min. If I have to work that evening, then this is when I will get ready for work.
-The girls chairs arrived this day, so I spent the better part of Liv's nap assembling those.
-2:30ish-everyone is hungry again, so it's time for snacks. Snack, play and more picking up. The girls usually play pretty good together at this time of the day OR it's the witching hour and all hell breaks loose...there is no in between, it's always one or the other! ha! If it's nice out, we head outside immediately after nap!
-4pm: Scott gets home (he leaves @ 4:30am, so he can be home at 4pm...what a sweet husband...although, I think he does it more to avoid traffic than anything else-haha). I'm either ready to collapse or ready to work-out or leaving for work at this time. If I work, I leave around this time and don't get home until 9pm or so!
-If I am not working (and, I only work a few nights a week), I will do whatever major chore is needing to be done that I couldn't get done with the girls in tow or hop on the treadmill, on the rare occasion go tan, etc. or go sit in the bathroom with the door locked until someone notices I am missing-haha!
-By 5pm, we are working on dinner. This particular day we decided on quesadillas, and of course, we are out of tortillas, so off I go to the grocery for the SECOND time that day!
-Back home and get busy on dinner. Clean up dinner mess, shuffle the girls off to either play outside or find something inside to do...usually it's something rough with Scott like wrestling or ball in the house, and someone ends up hurt or something of mine gets broken! ha!
-Before we know it, it's time for bedtime routine. Showers/baths, pjs, more teeth brushing, dry everyone's hair, tell Abby 20 times she can't have anything to drink, little time to play, maybe a snack (depending on who ate dinner), read, PRAY, hugs/kisses, patting, tuck into bed...hope that everyone is in bed and asleep by 8:00-8:30.
-Most of the time, this will be the first time that Scott and I have sat down all day. But, it's usually not for long. There are always toys to be put away, cleaning whatever didn't get cleaned that day, floors to be swept, more dishes, more laundry, etc. And, I save my big cleaning until this time, because 1. I don't want to take time from being with the girls to do it during the day and 2. I couldn't do it during the day most days even if I wanted to because the girls are making 3 messes for every one I clean up!
-By 9pm or so, I am usually dead and useless anyways, so I will watch some stupid show like The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars until I fall asleep watching said stupid show. Wake up, do whatever I forgot to do before I fell asleep, finally get to bed (usually way too late) and get ready to do it again!
***Add to this the dog, the runny noses and coughs, work, Dr. appts, dentist appts, dance and anything else we have going on, and yes....I NEED AN ASSISTANT! haha!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
More of the Girls!
Gigi and Goggy got the girls those adorable Anywhere Chairs from Pottery Barn! They arrived the other day, and.....
both girls promptly broke their necks playing on them...or that's what appears to happen based on these pics! haha!
A little break to love on her big sister! :) This is how they sit around the house sometimes. I mean, come on...that is the sweestest thing I have EVER seen!
And, this little one is a MESS! ha! As soon as she sees the camera she yells, 'CHEESE!' and squishes up that sweet little face! She is sooooo much fun, but man oh man she's a hand full.
Their new reading chairs! I love them! Thanks, so much Goggy and Gigi! :)
both girls promptly broke their necks playing on them...or that's what appears to happen based on these pics! haha!
A little break to love on her big sister! :) This is how they sit around the house sometimes. I mean, come on...that is the sweestest thing I have EVER seen!
And, this little one is a MESS! ha! As soon as she sees the camera she yells, 'CHEESE!' and squishes up that sweet little face! She is sooooo much fun, but man oh man she's a hand full.
Their new reading chairs! I love them! Thanks, so much Goggy and Gigi! :)
CHEESE!, again! ha! Oh, and I swear she doesn't ususally look this messy. She had just finished dinner with no bib! You know how it is...if big sister isn't wearing a bib, neither is she! :)
So...we have this big, beautiful whilpool tub in the master bath, and in the almost 2 yrs. we have lived here, I bet there has been maybe 5-10 baths taken in that tub. So, I decided to let the girls play in it the other day. I thought Liv would get a kick out of the jets and the bubbles.
She could have cared less, she prefers showers. (Yes, my 4 yr old and 18mo old prefer showers-haha!) But, she did get a kick out of watching Abby make beards from the bubbles!
And, she didn't throw a fit when Abby put them on her head, but she wasn't too sure about touching the bubbles! As you can see from all the pics, she has those little hands up, not wanting to get the bubbles on them in every picture. So, sorry tub...it might be another 2 yrs before anyone uses you again! ha!
And, these are all the pictures I wanted to get blogged on Thur., and it's now Sunday at 11:30pm! ha!
So...we have this big, beautiful whilpool tub in the master bath, and in the almost 2 yrs. we have lived here, I bet there has been maybe 5-10 baths taken in that tub. So, I decided to let the girls play in it the other day. I thought Liv would get a kick out of the jets and the bubbles.
She could have cared less, she prefers showers. (Yes, my 4 yr old and 18mo old prefer showers-haha!) But, she did get a kick out of watching Abby make beards from the bubbles!
And, she didn't throw a fit when Abby put them on her head, but she wasn't too sure about touching the bubbles! As you can see from all the pics, she has those little hands up, not wanting to get the bubbles on them in every picture. So, sorry tub...it might be another 2 yrs before anyone uses you again! ha!
And, these are all the pictures I wanted to get blogged on Thur., and it's now Sunday at 11:30pm! ha!
Miss Ladybug, You're Hired!
A ladybug got into the house the other morning and the girls spotted it!...and, then watched it and played with it for the next hour. I got so much done while they messed with that stinkin' ladybug! ha!
Liv was obsessed with it!
Can you see it there!? That tiny little speck on the carpet!
And, a little sisterly wrestling match! Liv can ususally end up pinning Abby! haha!
So much LOVE!! :) They are just so much fun together now! I love it!
Liv was obsessed with it!
Can you see it there!? That tiny little speck on the carpet!
And, a little sisterly wrestling match! Liv can ususally end up pinning Abby! haha!
So much LOVE!! :) They are just so much fun together now! I love it!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Playing catch up....
Well, one thing is certain, I am certainly not the blogger I once was. I just can't seem to stay caught up. I'm going to blame the computer (since I hate our laptop-ha!). Anyways, we have had one heck of a time around here. I know I have mentioned bits and pieces about Abby not feeling well, but we had about 6 weeks where the child could just not get well. First it was the stomach bug, then her first ever ear infections, then more puking, then strep and then we finally capped all of that off with an allergic reaction to her antibiotics, which meant a week out of school, fevers, a rash that lingered for almost 2 weeks and lots of over tired grumpy people. We had a great week where everyone was healthy and now we are all battling the cough, runny nose, allergy (maybe?) mess. But, other than this last bout, we were lucky enough to not all pass the puking, strep, etc. around. Thank God for that!
Back to what everyone wants...Pictures! :)
Abby now sleeps with a sleep mask! haha! I love it and it's so hysterical and it really does help her sleep later in the mornings. (Why I didn't think of this years ago is beyond me-ha!) But, this particular night she was so pitiful. She was running a fever, broken out all over in a rash and I peeked in and saw her sleeping there like a little angel! :)
Thankfully, the weather finally broke a little last week and we have been soaking up as much of it as we can...especially since it's 30 degrees again! UGH!
Kite flying...one of our favorite things to do (and it's a good thing since we live in a damn wind tunnel here. Even when it's 85 degrees and gorgeous, the wind is ALWAYS a nightmare here!)
On the pretty days, we manage to spend a good 3-4hrs outside playing, having picnics, walking the dog, etc. Liv is LOVING it!! Last year she was just walking towards the end of summer, but this year there isn't a place Abby goes that she doesn't follow. She climbs EVERYTHING at the park. I am predicting a trip to the ER before summer is over, because the child has NO fear (total opposite of her big sister who has always been so cautious). There is a huge slide at the park in town that Abby wouldn't even touch until late last summer, and Liv climbed right up like it was nothing. We went down that thing at least 100 times the other day!
We haven't been home since Thanksgiving! :( I know, I can't believe it either (we will be there SOON, though :), so every once in a while when Abby is missing Nanny and Papaw, she will pretent that we are going to stay with them. She came out all packed and ready to go the other day! :)
Scott's birthday has also come and gone! He's the big 33!! Old man! haha! The girls and I got him some camping gear that he had been wanting and baked him a brownie cake. Mom and Dad were here to celebrate with us, and Mom made her famous meatloaf for him.
Back to what everyone wants...Pictures! :)
Abby now sleeps with a sleep mask! haha! I love it and it's so hysterical and it really does help her sleep later in the mornings. (Why I didn't think of this years ago is beyond me-ha!) But, this particular night she was so pitiful. She was running a fever, broken out all over in a rash and I peeked in and saw her sleeping there like a little angel! :)
Thankfully, the weather finally broke a little last week and we have been soaking up as much of it as we can...especially since it's 30 degrees again! UGH!
Kite flying...one of our favorite things to do (and it's a good thing since we live in a damn wind tunnel here. Even when it's 85 degrees and gorgeous, the wind is ALWAYS a nightmare here!)
On the pretty days, we manage to spend a good 3-4hrs outside playing, having picnics, walking the dog, etc. Liv is LOVING it!! Last year she was just walking towards the end of summer, but this year there isn't a place Abby goes that she doesn't follow. She climbs EVERYTHING at the park. I am predicting a trip to the ER before summer is over, because the child has NO fear (total opposite of her big sister who has always been so cautious). There is a huge slide at the park in town that Abby wouldn't even touch until late last summer, and Liv climbed right up like it was nothing. We went down that thing at least 100 times the other day!
We haven't been home since Thanksgiving! :( I know, I can't believe it either (we will be there SOON, though :), so every once in a while when Abby is missing Nanny and Papaw, she will pretent that we are going to stay with them. She came out all packed and ready to go the other day! :)
Scott's birthday has also come and gone! He's the big 33!! Old man! haha! The girls and I got him some camping gear that he had been wanting and baked him a brownie cake. Mom and Dad were here to celebrate with us, and Mom made her famous meatloaf for him.
I know that doesn't even scratch the surface of getting caught up, but it's good enough for now, I guess! :) I'm going to try to make it my mission to get some more blogged today!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Christmas in March!?
A video too cute not to share!! :) Check out that outfit Abby has on, and Liv's little fit to put a dress on in the begining! haha! And, make sure you can hear it...the words are very compelling! ha!
Dear Abby-NEVER, EVER, EVER change!
Love-Mommy
Monday, March 8, 2010
My World!
Clearly, these two little angels are my world! I just can't believe how big they are getting. They could stay this size forever and that would be just fine by me! :) We are so VERY blessed with these 2 little girls, and I can't even believe they are mine sometimes.
Liv is quickly turning from my baby into a little girl! She is SO funny and spunky, and Abby and I have SO much fun teaching her new things and laughing at her. Abby gets such a kick out of her. I LOVE it! :)
And...let's face it, she's so darling it's not even fair! :)
And, my big girl! She still isn't feeling great, and it kills me. Last week it was strep, this week it's an allergic reaction to penicillin, but she's such a little trooper! I just adore her! She is truly my best buddy! She's an adult trapped in that little body! haha!
Sweetness overload! haha!
hahaha, Abby with the bear at Aunt Elizabeth's! Liv thought it was a dog! ha!
Bossing Goggy around...what they do best! ha!
I love these next few....sweet little innocent things!! I could just squeeze them all day long!
So cute!! :)
Yes, they rock the matching outfits quite a bit..haha! Just wait until you see their spring/summer wardrobes!! :) They are going to hate me for it one day. haha! I can't wait to show them all these pictures when they are about 17 and 14 yrs. old! ha!
Liv is quickly turning from my baby into a little girl! She is SO funny and spunky, and Abby and I have SO much fun teaching her new things and laughing at her. Abby gets such a kick out of her. I LOVE it! :)
And...let's face it, she's so darling it's not even fair! :)
And, my big girl! She still isn't feeling great, and it kills me. Last week it was strep, this week it's an allergic reaction to penicillin, but she's such a little trooper! I just adore her! She is truly my best buddy! She's an adult trapped in that little body! haha!
Sweetness overload! haha!
hahaha, Abby with the bear at Aunt Elizabeth's! Liv thought it was a dog! ha!
Bossing Goggy around...what they do best! ha!
I love these next few....sweet little innocent things!! I could just squeeze them all day long!
So cute!! :)
Yes, they rock the matching outfits quite a bit..haha! Just wait until you see their spring/summer wardrobes!! :) They are going to hate me for it one day. haha! I can't wait to show them all these pictures when they are about 17 and 14 yrs. old! ha!These girls....
are just too much fun! These are just random pics from the last week or 2!
So funny...Abby still fits in this baby stroller and Liv will push her everywhere in it! You can see her little face straining to get it moving! haha!
No Fear Liv! This child has ZERO fear...good for some aspects of life, heart attack for Mommy! haha!
Such a goofball! She's so rotten, it's pathetic!
And, with a face that adorable...why wouldn't she be rotten! :) (she always has something silly on...Scott's hats, Abby's clothes, my shoes!...I LOVE it)
Such a big, independent girl. If Abby gets her own big spoon, then you better believe Liv is getting one, too!...and feeding herself...and dressing herself...and on and on! The battles have begun, and she is one firey, independent little sass!
This made me smile so big. Abby came out one morning before anyone was awake, got out her bendaroos and labeled these cabinets. The one with Abby is where we keep all of her arts and crafts, and then the other is where we have all of our plastic cups, coffee mugs, etc. so she out Dad on that one! haha! You can barely see it in this pic, but it's so sweet, I can't take it down!
Baking cake with Mommy! Abby wouldn't dare lick the spoons, mixers, etc. but this one...look out...she's our eater! :)
So funny...Abby still fits in this baby stroller and Liv will push her everywhere in it! You can see her little face straining to get it moving! haha!
No Fear Liv! This child has ZERO fear...good for some aspects of life, heart attack for Mommy! haha!
Such a goofball! She's so rotten, it's pathetic!
And, with a face that adorable...why wouldn't she be rotten! :) (she always has something silly on...Scott's hats, Abby's clothes, my shoes!...I LOVE it)
Such a big, independent girl. If Abby gets her own big spoon, then you better believe Liv is getting one, too!...and feeding herself...and dressing herself...and on and on! The battles have begun, and she is one firey, independent little sass!
This made me smile so big. Abby came out one morning before anyone was awake, got out her bendaroos and labeled these cabinets. The one with Abby is where we keep all of her arts and crafts, and then the other is where we have all of our plastic cups, coffee mugs, etc. so she out Dad on that one! haha! You can barely see it in this pic, but it's so sweet, I can't take it down!
Baking cake with Mommy! Abby wouldn't dare lick the spoons, mixers, etc. but this one...look out...she's our eater! :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Oh, Abby...what are we going to do with you!
**Some more of Abby's finest!
**Last night we were getting the girls ready for their bath and I noticed that Abby had not wiped good (sorry, TMI, I know-ha!), so I start the lecture about how she needs to make sure she wipes good, and she still needs to get Mommy to help her sometimes, etc. So, I was getting her cleaned up and the following conversation occurs:
Abby-'Mom, why do have the baby wipes out...you don't have to wipe that much!'
Me-'Actually, yes Abby, I do. You can't have a dirty booty!'
Abby-'Mom, you are crazy!'
Me-'No, you are crazy!'
Abby-'Actually, we are both crazy, Mom...you wipe my butt too hard and I nearly pooped my pants today!'
hahahahaha! OMG! The child CRACKS me up!
**Today after school we were waitng on Mom, Dad and Liv to meet us for lunch. I was making phone calls to Mom and Scott and Abby was trying to get my attention. I could hear her but didn't answer her immediately. Then, I hear her say, 'damn, damn!' So, of course, I reply with, 'Abigail, you know better than that!' And, I hear her mumble...'that got her attention!' hahahaha!
**Earlier today she was at the bar doing arts and crafts and we were all standing close by, but no one was standing right there next to her. Next thing we know we hear her, 'someone better watch me!' We look over and she was holding the huge kitchen scissors getting ready to cut some paper, but it was so funny. It was like, 'alright all you idiot adults, I have scissors, someone better watch me!' haha!
**Last week we decided to trek to storytime at Borders for the first time in ages. We make it through the story and Abby is clearly bored and Liv is clearly unimpressed! But, we listened to the stories and then started on the craft, which was a chaotic mess! Abby again, was not thrilled and she looks at me just as serious as could be and says, 'let's not come to storytime anymore, Mom...we have all these books at home, our crafts are better and we don't have to deal with all these snot nosed kids!' hahahaha! God, I LOVE that child. It's exactly something like I would say!
**A conversation Abby had with Mom!
Abby-'Do you know what Emma told me?' (Emma is a little friend of hers from school).
My Mom-'No, what did Emma tell you!?'
Abby-'She told me that her Uncle farts!'
My Mom-(laughing)...'Oh, really!..and, what did you tell her about that!'
Abby-'I told her that my Dad poops a lot!'
hahahahaha!
**Last night we were getting the girls ready for their bath and I noticed that Abby had not wiped good (sorry, TMI, I know-ha!), so I start the lecture about how she needs to make sure she wipes good, and she still needs to get Mommy to help her sometimes, etc. So, I was getting her cleaned up and the following conversation occurs:
Abby-'Mom, why do have the baby wipes out...you don't have to wipe that much!'
Me-'Actually, yes Abby, I do. You can't have a dirty booty!'
Abby-'Mom, you are crazy!'
Me-'No, you are crazy!'
Abby-'Actually, we are both crazy, Mom...you wipe my butt too hard and I nearly pooped my pants today!'
hahahahaha! OMG! The child CRACKS me up!
**Today after school we were waitng on Mom, Dad and Liv to meet us for lunch. I was making phone calls to Mom and Scott and Abby was trying to get my attention. I could hear her but didn't answer her immediately. Then, I hear her say, 'damn, damn!' So, of course, I reply with, 'Abigail, you know better than that!' And, I hear her mumble...'that got her attention!' hahahaha!
**Earlier today she was at the bar doing arts and crafts and we were all standing close by, but no one was standing right there next to her. Next thing we know we hear her, 'someone better watch me!' We look over and she was holding the huge kitchen scissors getting ready to cut some paper, but it was so funny. It was like, 'alright all you idiot adults, I have scissors, someone better watch me!' haha!
**Last week we decided to trek to storytime at Borders for the first time in ages. We make it through the story and Abby is clearly bored and Liv is clearly unimpressed! But, we listened to the stories and then started on the craft, which was a chaotic mess! Abby again, was not thrilled and she looks at me just as serious as could be and says, 'let's not come to storytime anymore, Mom...we have all these books at home, our crafts are better and we don't have to deal with all these snot nosed kids!' hahahaha! God, I LOVE that child. It's exactly something like I would say!
**A conversation Abby had with Mom!
Abby-'Do you know what Emma told me?' (Emma is a little friend of hers from school).
My Mom-'No, what did Emma tell you!?'
Abby-'She told me that her Uncle farts!'
My Mom-(laughing)...'Oh, really!..and, what did you tell her about that!'
Abby-'I told her that my Dad poops a lot!'
hahahahaha!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)